Fun TBS game, but honestly it's pretty overrated. Sacred Stones was the only other one I played in the series. Permadeath seemed to carry much more wight in that one, as you couldn't farm for helpers at your leisure. At the end of the day though, most of the additions were welcome. As far as story goes, who gives a f*ck. It's a lame RPG story I'm guessing. I don't play strategy gamesFun TBS game, but honestly it's pretty overrated. Sacred Stones was the only other one I played in the series. Permadeath seemed to carry much more wight in that one, as you couldn't farm for helpers at your leisure. At the end of the day though, most of the additions were welcome. As far as story goes, who gives a f*ck. It's a lame RPG story I'm guessing. I don't play strategy games for story.…Expand

I've invested 20 hours into this game so far on the Hard setting and here is my take. It is way too easy and repetitive and unfortunately I have little drive to pickup this game to play now, which is a shame because the first few hours contained so much promise. The one negative review that presently exists nailed the issue on its head there's no reason to use 80% of the characters youI've invested 20 hours into this game so far on the Hard setting and here is my take. It is way too easy and repetitive and unfortunately I have little drive to pickup this game to play now, which is a shame because the first few hours contained so much promise. The one negative review that presently exists nailed the issue on its head there's no reason to use 80% of the characters you obtain since the main party levels up so quickly. Due to this you will not experience an enormous amount of text and back story between these characters since you will never use them. The game is repetitive battle after battle with little variation. Yes, the graphics are nice and the story is decent although VERY typical JRPG fare. After you've promoted your main characters to their master ranks and leveled their weapons up to the top rank around the 15th hour there's not much else to experience except for the tepid storyline.

I need to say I am absolutely shocked at the amount of poorly written positive reviews for this game that do not highlight these critical flaws in the game. I can only hope for the day Metacritic introduces some standard of quality for their user reviews. How can only ONE negative written review exist for this game that is the only review that points out something so glaringly obvious.

Disclosure: Gamer of 25 years, played hundreds of RPG's on PC, (S)NES, PS, etc.…Expand

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view.
I don't mind the story mode, the graphics, the music, the cutscenes, and most of the story. What I find stupid is that there seems like a lack of different types of character, then therefore, the weapons usable by each character; I liked Radiant Dawn, they weren't as general as characters in this game, instead of a paladin, there are ax paladin, sword paladin, lance paladin, even bow paladin. This added a layer a strategy, so that you had to have one character attacking a specific other one, making sure that it is a good idea after that. In Awakening, you can beat a large number of enemies with one character because of the number of different weapons this character can use. This isn't a problem for most of the game, until you need to get Priam, which you need 30 characters leveled up. This brings me to my next problem with this game, leveling up, boring and tedious, realizing more effective ways to level up characters all of the time, eventually using one character at a time. This is when I sometimes get annoyed to find the best level for the specific characters, sometimes finding the weakness of your character, forcing to search more. I say that it is tedious and boring because you have to kill every single one of them. I may be the only one that thinks this way, but in call of duty and most other first person shooter games, you learn how to go into the fray of a battle and shoot to kill whatever comes in sight. In this game, for this part of this game at least, you have to kill everyone on screen, so you're trying to find the best way to kill your opponent. A counter argument that may come up may be "there risen, it doesn't matter, it's pretty much zombies, things that should be killed," I'd say "what about when you fight against things that aren't risen?" Well, I can't really think of something to replace it, to get the amount of experience you need without using DLC, which adds more money to that $40 I've already spent on this game. People I noticed mention multiple art styles as a positive thing. I look at the appearances (the 3D characters) and art styles. Do they look similar? NO, THEY LOOK STUPID, the Black Knight for example, he's supposed to a have a helmet to mask his head. Guess what. No helmet, and face is see able, this is similar for most (if not all) of the SpotPass/DLC characters. Overall, 6.3/10, it's pretty pathetic it was beat out by both of the Rabbids Games on the 3DS.…Expand

I'm rather confused as to how this game is receiving such exceptional reviews. It's a mediocre tactics game that suffers from a lack of compelling elements. My biggest complaints are:
- You have to move THEN attack, no attack then move
- Maps are bland and lack features present in better tactics games (altitude, etc.)
- The "voice acting" mainly consist of simple utterances that areI'm rather confused as to how this game is receiving such exceptional reviews. It's a mediocre tactics game that suffers from a lack of compelling elements. My biggest complaints are:
- You have to move THEN attack, no attack then move
- Maps are bland and lack features present in better tactics games (altitude, etc.)
- The "voice acting" mainly consist of simple utterances that are repeated far too often
- Story & Characters are dull and uninteresting
I could go on but I'll leave it at this. The game isn't horrible and brings back a lot of the classic Fire Emblem nostalgia, but it's very far from great.…Expand

Awakening has proven to be a very divisive game amongst the Fire Emblem fanbase. Players new to the series seem to appreciate many of the new features that have been added, while series vets find that their presence has come at the cost of other key components such as mission variety, map design, and balance.

Ultimately, whether or not you will enjoy this title is dependent very much onAwakening has proven to be a very divisive game amongst the Fire Emblem fanbase. Players new to the series seem to appreciate many of the new features that have been added, while series vets find that their presence has come at the cost of other key components such as mission variety, map design, and balance.

Ultimately, whether or not you will enjoy this title is dependent very much on your own expectations. If you're less familiar with SPRGs, or if you prefer a more open-ended take on the genre a la Disgaea or Final Fantasy Tactics, then you'll find plenty to enjoy here. If you are a long time fan of Fire Emblem, however, you will likely be let down by what's on offer in Awakening. Personally, as a new player to the series myself, and with a minimal history in the genre (about 8 hours of Valkyria Chronicles), I found the Pair Up features to be somewhat distracting in a way that seemed to undermine the core of the game.

It's worth pointing out what this game does well aside from its gameplay. The level of polish and amount of content is terrific, the 3D cutscenes are stunning, and the potential for replay-ability is certainly high. I found the story, and some of the characters, to be pretty bland.

It's hard to call Fire Emblem: Awakening a bad game, but it may be a disappointment to long-time fans.…Expand

This game is graphically superior to anything else on 3DS and the music is superior to previous FE games. But the gameplay is the same as before. I wanted to see a queue system in a Fire Emblem game instead of the player and enemy rotations, but I wasn't given that option. Fire Emblem has always been afraid to innovate itself (not the genre - itself) and as usual I am rewarded for being aThis game is graphically superior to anything else on 3DS and the music is superior to previous FE games. But the gameplay is the same as before. I wanted to see a queue system in a Fire Emblem game instead of the player and enemy rotations, but I wasn't given that option. Fire Emblem has always been afraid to innovate itself (not the genre - itself) and as usual I am rewarded for being a chicken by keeping my lower level units back beyond harm. I was at least given a casual option to play the game which means you can lose units and they won't disappear forever in the casual mode. There is also a male/female option for choice of main character.…Expand

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view.
Finished this game by the beginning of the week.
SPOILER ALERT
Well, it certainly is a good game, but not great. Truth to be said, i think this game is too overrated. I saw many good reviews about the game on the internet, but oh well..when i actually play the game, it's not as good as i thought it would be.

The Story starts with you, the main character, see a dream where you kill Chrom.
And then you suddenly wake up to find Chrom standing in front of you. You join his gang, The shepherds, as the Tactician. Seeing that the nation is in a war state, Chrom journey off with the shepherds to save his king. One day he met a girl with a mask who called herself as "Marth", the legendary heroine who put Grimma the dark dragon to sleep several hundred years ago. It turns out that "Marth" is actually Lucina, the daughter of Chrom, who came from an alternate future to save Chrom from being murdered. So, how will the story ends? Can they bend the destiny? Play and find out yourself.

Plus point:
- This game has an interesting gameplay & great job system. The battle is fun and have a very good graphics. I mean i enjoy hacking people when they used a weapon that's not good against mine.
- Marriage system? Well it's one of the interesting point. You can build relationship between male and female in your team, and they'll get married, affecting their offspring who came from the future as well. And you have a lot of choices for that! I mean i considered a lot about who my main character going to marry.

Minus Point:
- Story is just too cheesy. I mean, your son/daughter came from alternate future. And you fight together to change the future? Well yes, it seems good at first, but ridiculous at the same time. They went back to the past but couldn't go back to their future, so they have to stay at the present with their parents? Seems kinda weird for me.
- Too many characters. I mean too many characters, but you can only take some people to the battle. And every character doesn't have any special traits. I mean, they are basically the same. Just different job, but you can change the job.
-Leveling up could be a pain in the ass. You get a new character, but they start at a pretty low level. You have to fight your way through to make them level up. Which is a total pain in the ass, because the enemy could kill that character in one hit. If you pair him with another character, there are chances that they won't get any experience. It sucks.

Well in the end, i think this game is just too overrated. I thought it would be super good, but in fact the game is just okay. 7/10 for this game.
And the last boss is just too easy. I kill him within 2 turns without any damage. Pretty much too easy.﻿…Expand

First FE game I played, and I have mixed feelings over it. Don't get me wrong, I don't regret obtaining this game. But it is quite overrated.

The characters are interesting (beautiful art btw, may I say), but not so much to the point where you're engrossed over them. The marriage system was one of my favorite aspects of the game; it's a shipper's paradise haha. And the game is reallyFirst FE game I played, and I have mixed feelings over it. Don't get me wrong, I don't regret obtaining this game. But it is quite overrated.

The characters are interesting (beautiful art btw, may I say), but not so much to the point where you're engrossed over them. The marriage system was one of my favorite aspects of the game; it's a shipper's paradise haha. And the game is really dependent on the battling, so you may want to consider if you fancy a system like this. Overall, FE:A is a fun, refreshing game with a decent amount of things to do in a file, however the storyline is not the greatest you could get from a JRPG.…Expand

This review contains spoilers.
Gorgeous graphics, a compelling story, and some of the best tactical strategy combat on offer all combine to make Fire Emblem a must-have game for any 3DS owner. Even having not played any of the previous instalments in this long-running series, I have become totally engrossed in every little detail about this game, seeking that perfect experience.

The streetpass functionality in this game is brilliant allowing you to trade with, as well as, fight and/or hire your friends and strangers who own the game as well. The added DLC means that even when the story mode is done, there will be extra content to further enhance your Fire Emblem experience.

The vast amount of characters you can recruit, even early in the game, means that your future playthroughs could be radically different from your first. These addition playthroughs will also be influenced by the well-crafted difficulty scale, which can be absolutely brutal or, for newcomers, a way to get you into the game without ruining the experience. The scaling difficulty is also enhanced by the casual/classic playthrough options, which means life and death for your characters who fall on the battlefield.

There are few detracting aspects about this game. As a beginner, the tutorials offer a quick, yet thorough, explanation to most aspects of the game. My only complaint is the lack of explanation for how the job system and stats work. I've also found the game, on a whole, looks better on the XL over the regular 3DS. The only major story flaw I've had an issue with has been an apparent life or death choice for a major NPC, which the player is faced with fairly early in the game. No matter which option the player chooses, the outcome remains the same, save for a few lines of dialogue. If the choice had no impact on the story, the question of why it was there in the first place must be asked.

Fire Emblem: Awakening, is an amazing game, and one that most 3DS owners should buy. Its rich story, stand-out characters, excellently-crafted battle system, and unique job classes, will pull you in to the game and hold you there.…Collapse

A great turn-based strategy game surpassing not only its blood-related predecessors but step-brothers and step-sisters of the Advance Wars series as well. Fire Emblem: Awakening is the new benchmark of the genre that is practically uncriticizable. At the moment on Nintendo 3DS there is not a better alternative.